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| Photo caption: Award recipients Alanna Miller(left) and Daceris Mendez (right) are shown with their awards and (back, from left) Sgt. James Whalen, Officer Anna Walker, Officer Terese Guilday, Officer John Johnson and Capt. Thomas Didone. |
The Police Department has announced that two Montgomery County Public School students -- Alanna Miller, an 11-year-old 5th grader at Rock Creek Forest Elementary School in Chevy Chase, and Daceris Mendez, a 10 year-old fifth grader at Rock View Elementary School in Kensington -- have received the 2013 AAA School Safety Patrol Lifesaving Award, the highest award given to members of the AAA School Safety Patrol.
Recipients are school safety patrol officers who have saved the life of a person while on safety duty. Each year, a National Review Board selects award winners from the nominated candidates.
The day before Thanksgiving (2012), Alanna was at her post, with a County Police Crossing Guard, at the corner of East-West Hwy. and Grubb Rd. A large truck driving against the red signal was traveling toward the crosswalk. A third grade student saw the pedestrian Walk signal and proceeded into the crosswalk. Alanna realized that the crossing guard had not given the OK to cross. She saw the approaching truck and immediately stepped into the crosswalk, grabbed the arm of the young boy, and pulled him to the curb just as the truck drove past. The crossing guard stated that if not for Alanna’s quick actions, the young boy would have been struck by the truck.
On December 10 (2012), Daceris was at her assigned post in her school’s Kiss and Ride parent pick-up area when she saw a kindergarten student dart from the curb into the school’s driveway and into the path of a moving car. Daceris immediately used both hands to grab the child around the waist and pull him back to the sidewalk. A teacher who witnessed the event stated that had Daceris not acted, the child’s feet would have been run over by the car.
Read more about the winners.